New Zealanders have made it clear that the current gaps in knowledge of our histories are not okay. Imbalance in how our history is told and valued contributes to enduring inequity between tangata whenua and tauiwi.
New Zealanders have also made it clear that they want the next generation to be able to apply lessons from the past as they shape our future.
Your challenge is to research and retell an aspect of your local history.
The then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern in her speech to the nation on Waitangi Day 2022 said ...
"We are a country that takes pride in our heritage. A small island nation in the Pacific with voyaging roots from both Hawaiki and Europe. Across Aotearoa there are stories of our arrival, stories of settlement, stories of conflict and of unity, of hope and hardship. These stories are our stories. And learning, sharing and acknowledging these stories that trace back to many different shores is crucial to our connections to one another."
"I look forward to the future where our tamariki come home and share with us the history of our country and the places where they live and grow."
There are three sets of classroom learning experiences and a sailing experience to help build the knowledge and skills you will need to retell an aspect of your local history. Your teacher will decide with you which experiences you are going to use and will tailor these to the phase of schooling that you are currently in (either years 4-6, years 7-8, or years 9-10). Your teacher will also frame with you how the learning intentions for each activity relate to the following key things to know from the social sciences curriculum for your phase of learning.
Māori voyaging through the Pacific was deliberate and skillful and brought with it Pacific whakapapa and cultural identities. These identities were transformed over the centuries through adaptations to, and relationships with, the environment, and through the formation of hapū and iwi that eventually occupied Aotearoa New Zealand.
The signings of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni | The Declaration of Independence and Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi emerged from a long period of complex interactions between hapū/iwi and newcomers in which Māori were the majority. These interactions, particularly those with missionaries, helped to facilitate the treaty process. Also important were the international events and ideas of the time that informed the Crown’s thinking and actions.
Since the mid-nineteenth century, immigration practices and laws have shaped Aotearoa New Zealand’s population and sought to realise dominant cultural ideals and economic ends. Māori as tangata whenua were excluded from these cultural ideals, which they experienced as colonising and assimilating.
Regardless of the phase of learning that you are in, the intention is that the activities will help you to explore and deepen your understanding of how colonisation and settlement have been central to Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories for the past 200 years.
One thing that unites tangata whenua and tauiwi is the journeys made across the ocean to arrive at Aotearoa New Zealand. Both groups of people navigated their way to these shores using the stars and other wayfinding signs in nature. Let's spend a bit of time learning about different ways of navigating and mapping a course.
How do latitude, longitude and the GPS work and how are they used?
Having made epic journeys to these shores tangata whenua and tauiwi began interacting with each other. Let's spend some time exploring what the early interactions were like in general as well as in your place specifically.
Time to zoom in a bit further. Let's spend a bit of time learning about your place in the world and how we each came to be here, as well as the signs of what came before us that are still here in our place.
When and how did your whanau come to Aotearoa and where did they come from originally?
Choose a local street or place name and find out where it came from.
We have set up a Kōrinorino sailing experience to help you with your challenge of retelling aspects of your local settlement stories. Watch the video below to get a feel for how sailing experiences integrate with the classroom experiences. Go to our sailing experience page to get more information and to book your sailing experience.
You will remember when you started on the Kōrinorino learning journey that your challenge was to to research and retell an aspect of your local history. To support your progression toward becoming knowledgeable about ngā ahurea me te tuakiri kiritōpū (culture and collective identity) and te tino rangatiratanga me te kāwanatanga (sovereignty, organisation, and government) we have set up three challenges, one each for ākonga in years 4-6, years 7-8, and years 9-10. Regardless of the phase of learning that you are in, the intention is that the challenges will help you progress in building your capability to use the social inquiry process.
Expanding horizons of knowledge and collaboration
Knowing I belong and advocating for self and others
Having a purpose and being empathetic and resilient
Retell the story of the first arrivals to your place? Who was tangata whenua? How did they come to be there? Are they still there? If not, where are they now? Who are mana whenua today? How did they get that status?
Tauiwi in your place
Retell the stories of settlement of your place in the 5 decades following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi? What motivated these people to come to your place? What was their experience on arrival? What changed in your place over these years?
Impact of two peoples being in your place
What specific immigration practices and laws facilitated the arrival of tauiwi in your place in the 5 decades following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi? What was the experience and impact for Māori as a result of tauiwi arriving in your place?
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